8x8 Snags CenturyLink, Westcon Vet to Lead Channel Growth

**Editor’s Note: Click here to see which channel people were on the move in March or here for our list of 20 top UCaaS providers offering products and services via channel partners.**

8×8 has appointed Bill Corbin, former channel leader for CenturyLink and Westcon, to the newly created role of senior vice president of channels and alliances.

Corbin will be responsible for further growing channel uptake and momentum, and driving adoption of the newly launched X Series enterprise system of engagement and intelligence. He previously was CenturyLink‘s senior vice president of alliances and strategic partnerships, overseeing all aspects of $3 billion in partner-generated revenue. Prior to that, he was Westcon’s executive vice president of global sales and partner management.

8×8’s Bill Corbin

Corbin tells Channel Partners that 8×8 successfully has been growing its channel partnerships for the last four years, which has helped the company reach more midmarket and enterprise companies.

“The 2018 fiscal year has already been one of significant growth for 8×8, with six of the company’s top 10 deals in [the third quarter] contributed by channel partners, and overall channel bookings increasing 50 percent year-over-year,” he said. “The 8×8 partner program … provides the foundation to accelerate expansion, and put more energy into channels and alliances to find new routes to market and get more partners recruited and earning revenue as quickly as possible.”

According to IDC, the UC, collaboration and contact center market is estimated at nearly $41 billion this year.

“One of 8×8’s core capabilities is to help on-premises-based customers move to the cloud,” Corbin said. “With so many changes in the industry, we need to ensure that our channel partners are equipped with the resources to successfully migrate both their business and their clients to the cloud model.”

To achieve this, 8×8 is constantly improving its multi-tier enablement program, as well as rolling out new certifications to help partners grow their capabilities and revenue, he said. It also is enhancing its back-end systems to help partners add more value, he said.   

“We need to give our partners the tools, whether it’s marketing, sales, support or deployment capabilities, to get them productive; plus, provide a compensation structure that is both stable and financially fruitful, especially for partners who are used to on-premises-based technology sales,” Corbin said.

Corbin also has an entrepreneurial side, having co-founded RedCard Solutions, a channels consulting business, as well as Network Catalyst, a network integration company

“Demand from the midmarket and enterprise segment is accelerating as companies increasingly replace legacy PBX telephony systems with a cloud solution, and this migration is largely led by channel partners,” said Vik Verma, 8×8’s CEO. “Bill has 27 years under his belt successfully finding new routes to market and growing global partner programs. Under his leadership, 8×8 is well positioned to help our partners and joint customers succeed in the next wave of enterprise communications where one cloud solution for phone, meetings, collaboration and contact center is necessary to deliver a more intelligent, integrated employee and customer experience.”